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The Impact of Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane SandyImage: useconomy.about.com

A real estate professional who represents the Riverside Abstract title agency, David Heskiel enjoys a broad range of pursuits outside the office, including fishing, hiking, and cooking. A quintessential New Yorker, David Heskiel spent time in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Sandy helping with search-and-rescue operations and later with food and shelter support for those displaced by the massive storm.

Hurricane Sandy, the most destructive hurricane of the 2012 season, began on October 19, 2012, as a tropical wave in the Caribbean Sea. It evolved to tropical storm status on October 22, and became the 18th named storm of the season. Maximum sustained winds of 74 mph were recorded on October 24, and Sandy officially became the season’s tenth hurricane. It roared over Jamaica, Cuba, and the Bahamas before taking aim at the United States on October 26.

Sandy picked up strength over the next few days and didn’t make landfall again until the evening of Tuesday, October 29, when it lumbered ashore near Atlantic City, New Jersey, and headed toward New York City, which was preparing for the onslaught. Sandy lost strength dramatically over the next couple of days and was reported as having dissipated completely by November 1, with remnants still affecting the lower Great Lakes.

Sandy’s impact was profound. It killed nearly 300 people, including at least 125 in the US. It produced record storm surges along the eastern seaboard and closed non-essential government and private offices and facilities, including public schools, for as many as five days. At Sandy’s height, between 7 and 8 million people were without power. It caused more than $60 billion in damage in the US, and more than $300 million in the Caribbean. Most severely hit was New York City, due to damage done to subway and roadway tunnels.